Recruitment of stem-like T cells and resistance to exhaustion support CD4 T cell responses in autoimmunity (scCITE-Seq).

Recent findings suggest that undifferentiated, stem-like, antigen specific T cells serve as an important long-term reservoir for autoimmune CD8 T cell responses. However, it is still unclear whether CD4 T cells exhibit a similar differentiation trajectory culminating in terminal differentiation, acquisition of an exhausted phenotype, and loss of stemness and function. We analyzed islet infiltrating T cells by scRNAseq and flow cytometry and found that while CD4 T cells in autoimmune diabetes share many features of exhaustion with CD8 T cells, expression patterns of inhibitory receptors are distinct in autoimmune T cells compared to T cells in chronic LCMV infection. scCITE-Seq

最新研究表明，未分化、干细胞样抗原特异性T细胞（undifferentiated, stem-like, antigen-specific T cells）是自身免疫性CD8 T细胞应答的重要长期储存库。但目前仍不清楚CD4 T细胞是否会呈现相似的分化轨迹，最终走向终末分化、获得耗竭表型，并丧失干细胞特性与功能。我们通过单细胞RNA测序（scRNAseq）与流式细胞术对胰岛浸润T细胞进行了分析，结果发现：尽管自身免疫性糖尿病患者体内的CD4 T细胞与CD8 T细胞具备诸多共通的耗竭相关特征，但相较于慢性LCMV感染中的T细胞，自身免疫性T细胞的抑制性受体表达模式存在显著差异。scCITE-Seq